


What's Left Behind

by Starofwinter



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Heavy Angst, M/M, Widowed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 14:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: Who did Thorn leave behind when he died on Scipio?





	What's Left Behind

“You come back,” Fox says, their foreheads pressed together, “Promise me you’ll come back.”  He grips the back of Thorn’s neck, almost too tight. “Don’t let that senator get you into trouble.  I’ve got a bad feeling.” It’s been burrowing its way under his skin, getting into the cracks in his heart and tearing him apart since they got the mission briefing.  

His eyes are closed, but he can hear Thorn’s cocky smile in his voice when he says, “You know me, I’ll always come back.”  

He wants to believe him, or else keep him here on Coruscant, where he can  _ know _ the worst thing that will happen on a regular night is some sentient hopped up on glitterstims and trying to take a swing at them.  “I love you,” he whispers, and tries to ignore the ice running down his spine.

“Love you too, Fox.  When I get back, I’ll take you to that nice little diner you like, yeah?”  

“Yeah, that sounds good.”  Fox straightens up, giving Thorn one last, lingering kiss before he reluctantly lets go, watching as Thorn slips his bucket on and walks out.

* * *

Fox would like to say he knew the moment Thorn died, some poetic, holo moment, but he doesn’t.  He doesn’t know until his datapad chimes, with six casualty reports and six video attachments. 

_ No survivors _ .

With shaking hands, he scrolls through until he reaches the one he never wanted to see.

_ Casualty Report _

_ CC-2537 _

_ Killed In Action _

_ CC-2537 was the last standing trooper in engagement at Scipio.  Footage from helmet cameras [see attached] show a valiant final stand.  CC-2537 was executed by a commando droid unit, after multiple blaster bolts to the chest failed to subdue him. _

Fox forces himself to open the footage.  

Thorn is already surrounded when it starts, and the droids only keep coming.  The first bolt hits Thorn center mass, and Fox chokes on a silent sob, pressing his fist to his mouth as he keeps watching.  He won’t turn away. Thorn deserves that much. The next two bolts hit in rapid succession, and Thorn keeps fighting until he can’t stay on his feet.  Fox doesn’t need to see his face to know he’s snarling up at the commando droid as it fires the fatal bolt, and he drops his datapad to bury his face in his hands, letting his grief consume him, if only for a little while.  That was his Thorn, defiant and stubborn to the last breath. 

There are people to get in contact with - he knows Rys and Jek both have partners, and he won’t let them hear the news from anyone else - but right now, he’s not sure he can stand beneath the crushing weight of knowing that Thorn is never coming back.

* * *

A week later, Fox sits at a scratched diner table, a cup of caff in front of him, a second across the table, in front of the empty half of the booth.  It was their favorite seat in the place, right at the corner where they could watch each other’s backs. 

They’ve been here once a week since they found it, and he’s come to think of the diner as  _ theirs _ .  It’s where they came after late night patrols, on the rare days they both had a day off together, it’s where Thorn had first brought up the idea that  _ maybe, after this is over- _

It’s where Thorn had dragged him after too many late nights after Fives’ death, and that sends his thoughts spiraling over again.  This is his fault. His cosmic justice - he’d been the one to pull the trigger on a brother  _ again _ \- and now all of that has come due, and Thorn was the one to pay the price.  What better revenge than taking the man he loves from him, and letting him live with that?  

There’s no one watching his back anymore, and he can’t bring himself to care.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, this was supposed to be fluff but then the angst bunnies bit.


End file.
